Constructs - The firstborn! O_O | First Page | Forum

Gaia Forums » GAIA Gaming » Mini Shops » Breedable/Changing Pets

Report ad

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Post: 4692392_1 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:54:22 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:54:22 +0000

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

</CENTER>

There's a house somewhere that you can only find if you really want to find it... Faint gray, faint brown, with strange shadows that flicker about its frame, defiant of the physical sun and moon above. It's a real place that exists in your imagination, where things could come to be. Inside it is like a candlelit mansion, dark purple and black, spacious... yet it seems cramped and claustrophobic somehow. The foyer branches out into a thousand tiny, pitch-black halls, leading to what might be infinite doors opening into more halls, more rooms, so many chambers... most of which are empty. Yet, the air of this dimension seems thick and fertile, begging for possibility to be planted.

If it is your first time to explore this house, you might spot in a dark corner a girl, not short, not tall, not beautiful, not cruel-faced and not kind. She is nothing in particular, except for a pair of golden eyes that fix themselves on you, and know everything. And she just asks, in a soft, fragile voice, "What do you want?"

This is the new home for the "Constructs" shop. Nope, you've never heard of it, and you're probably not interested -- but you might be.

"Constructs" are RP-heavy changeables -- unlike the usual pet, their life cycle is a process of creation that results in a living being; and consider ownership a contract of RP, communication, and creation between you and the artist. If you wonder what half-Dream sorcery could make out of your wishes, your desires, your vague hopes, then read on.

Story, art, and shop by: Wenyuan

Table of Contents

1. Intro
2. Announcements
3. Story
4. Rules
5. Construct Manual
6. FAQ
7. The Constructs
8. The Vessels
9. RP
10. Giftshop
11. Links

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_2 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:56:09 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:56:09 +0000

<CENTER>[Announcements]</CENTER>

Announcements

12/13/04 - Junyi is the first apprentice to complete a Construct -- Jokeph! Congratulations!! x3
12/5/04 - Flatsale over! "Case" will be Zachariah MoonShadow's; "Lamp," LittleButterfly's. Thank you all participants; I received many excellent entries!
11/29/04 - Sudden change of plans, because the fifth Vessel has appeared, "Case!" It will join Lamp in the flatsale, so the flatsale will be extended a day. The first prompt will be posted on December 3, around 8 PM CST; the second, about 24 hours later. All entries will be due December 5, at 8 PM CST. The altered rules have been altered. Although this may be a bit confusing, it will allow the participants more choices and more chances, so we believe it is worth it.
11/27/04 - The fourth Vessel has appeared... "Lamp." It will be found a home in a flatsale next week! The prompt, as there will be only one, will be posted on December 3, around 8 PM CST. All entries will be due December 4, at 8 PM CST. Because this is a one-prompt flatsale, the rules are slightly altered. Please re-read them to find out the specifics.
11/24/04 - Shop move started. It won't be considered complete until I have everything finished -- all the new info, the new tags, etc.

Mailing List - If you want to be updated on important dates and events regarding Constructs (so you don't miss a flatsale or anything), please be sure to send a friendslist request to Heiyue.

If you want to receive a PM newsletter whenever a Construct event or flatsale is coming up, please friend Heiyue (this account.)

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_3 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:57:06 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:57:06 +0000

<CENTER>[Story]</CENTER>

Old Story

I'm sure you know of ancient wizards weaving steel and magic together to create guards and golems from what was previously inanimate. These 'Constructs' could serve as guardians, weapons, conversation pieces... Besides the usual stone, iron, and borrowed flesh, they could be made of many things, and pieced together from many components, an infinite variety theoretically possible.

These "book" wizards' Constructs are not the only kind, however... A sorceress born half of a human and half of a figment, a wish, a dream, has experimented using her unique magic to create Constructs. Her "dream" magic feeds off fantasy, desires, and the subconscious, capable of bending and folding reality and one's perception of reality. Melting physical components together in a soup of this magic results in strange, fickle creatures that reflect the desire, will, love, and sadness of their creators.

For all her lucidity and power, her first Construct, intended to be a weapon, became her companion; her second Construct, intended to be a companion, became estranged from her, and left to attempt life as a normal human being. A little indecision, a little vagueness, and the result entirely changed.

Wishes are perverse, capricious, senseless and delicate things.

Perhaps their nonsense is what motivated the sorceress, Heiyue, to begin a third experiment. This time, though, she did not create another Construct. Instead, she sought out her second-crafted, who had explored the outside world and met many mortals, and asked him if he could help her find humans of pure heart and honest will to try their hand at this craft.

Perhaps because she is part of Dream, she cannot dream her own dreams... perhaps these mortals will create something better, or different.

Or this new generation of Constructs might give more meaning to the lives of the first two, or to the lives of the mortals who make them, as they realize how precious their own existences are...

...If you find this mansion, halfway-into-Dream, you must have wanted to be here. Perhaps you did not know it, but part of you is curious, or yearning, or lonely... And your desire cut the path to this strange, magical place, that is neither pure illusion and fantasy nor the solid truth. It does not shift or change to your whims, but it hears them, and remembers them.

If you come here, and meet the strange, vague sorceress and her two creations, her two sons, then perhaps the idea might be planted in your mind of making one, too, fulfilling a wish.

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_4 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:57:54 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:57:54 +0000

<CENTER>[Rules]</CENTER>

The only function of these rules are to make customers and visitors to the shop happy. They should not cause any problems; if they do, please post your concerns, and we will try to explain our reasoning.

General Rules

- Follow the golden rule. Play nice, play fair, and be polite.
- Never send Heiyue PMs except in situations where you are explicitly told to, like a flatsale.
- Please refrain from sending Wenyuan PMs. Post any comments or questions in the thread or guild.
- Please refrain from advertising in the thread.
- Do not steal art.
- Please type coherently. Please do your best to use good grammar and spelling, cohesive syntax, and no gratuitous netspeak, chatspeak, or l337.
- If you break any rule, you may be banned, blacklisted, refused a Construct, have your Construct taken away, or suffer similar consequences. Breaking a rule in the shop or the guild has the same weight and same consequences in the other place.
- All final decisions concerning the ownership of Constructs are up to Wenyuan. If there's a problem and ownership comes into question, Wenyuan will make the final decision. He will do his best to be fair.
- Wenyuan reserves the right to change the rules as necessary, without warning.

Flatsale-Specific Rules

- Each Construct at a flatsale will cost 4000 gold. Flatsales are rp/essay contest style. In the case of a multi-day flatsale, a prompt will be posted each day of the flatsale, and in order for you to be considered for available Vessels, at least one prompt must be responded to.
- Flatsales will begin when the flatsale prompt is posted. There will be an approximate start time, but a definite end time. Keep checking back to see if a prompt has been posted.
- In the case of a multi-day flatsale, there will be a new prompt posted every day of the flatsale. You may answer as many as you'd like whenever you'd like, so long as all your responses are turned in before the end time.
- PM all responses to flatsale prompts to Heiyue.
- You do not have to respond to all prompts posted; only one is necessary. However, the more prompts you respond to, the better your chances -- if they are all of good quality.
- Please keep responses under 500 words each.
- If there is more than one Vessel in a flatsale, include with your first submission a list of the order in which you would prefer them.
- Please do not bully others out of trying in a flatsale.
- After the flatsale closes, Wenyuan will have the winners list posted within 24 hours (probably much quicker.)
- Should you win a flatsale, you have 24 hours from the posting of the winners list to send the gold to Heiyue. If you fail to send payment within 24 hours, the Construct will go to the next person on the list.

Blacklist

Empty!

And now, I would like to give special thanks to those who helped Constructs become a shop, and kept it alive:

Whitelist

Arezou - The Dream Walker
Junyi
Kit-fallen
Mintaka
Prolixity

heart You guys are swell.

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_5 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:58:53 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:58:53 +0000

<CENTER>[Construct Manual]</CENTER>

(Which Wenyuan needs to make shorter and simpler)

<CENTER>Overview</CENTER>

Here is a brief guide to making a Construct once you have been given a Vessel by Heiyue. Basically, you gather "Materials" which the magic inside the Vessel melts into a rich 'soup,' which you then influence with your will and ideas and make into a living Construct, simultaneously making an item that will help the fleeting, intangible soul become associated with the physical plane. Much of this process is innately vague and esoteric, so if you don't understand these convoluted instructions, feel free to ask Wenyuan to explain them further.

<CENTER>Your Room</CENTER>

When you get a Vessel, you will be able to set up your own room in Heiyue's house (the RP guild.) Although you can also RP in other rooms of the house, your own room is to record your most intimate moments sharing your desires and wishes with your Construct-to-be. Towards the beginning, you should post your work gathering the Materials to form the Construct itself, Core, Base, and Components. Afterwards, you can move on to making the Construct's item. Throughout this process, you should pour all the feelings you want to shape the Construct into the Vessel. Talk to it! Tell it what you're like, what you hope your Construct will be like, what you like, whatever. The more details the Vessel has to cling onto, the more detailed the Construct will be.

<CENTER>Materials</CENTER>

The "Materials" provide the... well, material for the body of the Construct. "Body" as in the entire body, including the brain, which houses the personality and some say 'soul.' A Vessel prepared by Heiyue can digest almost anything put into it; the Materials become an ether-like substance that reacts violently to the feelings of mortals. No matter how odd the items used as Materials are, they will be changed by the magic into blood, nerves, muscles, and everything wished for and needed by the creator.

Rule of thumb about Materials: THE MORE SPECIFIC YOU ARE, THE BETTER. No "wafting the essence of animation into my Vessel." Explain the Materials you are using in detail and how you obtain them in even more detail. Otherwise your Construct will turn out a misshapen lump. >_>

Second rule of thumb about Materials: The greater variety of Materials you use, the better. If you decide that you really want to use three different gems as components and RP this out, it's fine, but your Construct is in greater danger of turning out a little in-bred. See Dark Moon and the use of two different flowers.

Core: The Core is probably the most important part, in terms of the amount and quality of RP needed. You need to find something that can animate the Construct and give the Construct the ability to move, think, and feel. A very simple and obvious example is found in Ryou -- Heiyue bound a ghost to the Construct to animate it. Another common solution is an elemental spirit, or you could conceivably also use something like an imaginary friend, a computer program that produces A.I.... But the more unusual and creative the Core, the more unusual and creative the RP needed.

Whatever you decide, it must be alive, or at least fairly alive. You cannot use a random piece of gravel sitting on your driveway that no one cares about.

One of the biggest challenges as far as RPing goes is illustrating how you trap the Core in the Vessel. Because Cores tend to be fleeting or immaterial, most of the time you can't simply stuff them in. Spirits and ghosts might be trapped in wards or sucked into physical objects, but you have to be careful and detailed about how you describe it. A cruel solution is to stuff a living creature in and let it suffocate in the magic, thus, a ghost... but Heiyue generally finds this unethical.

Base: Much simpler than the Core is the Base. The Base provides most of the "filler" for the Construct, the raw material for most of the physical body. Thus, the base has to be a physical, tangible object, or at least somewhat physical. It does not neccessarily have to be organic -- almost anything you can touch is acceptable. However, you had best select the Base with care, because it will frequently have great effect on the appearance and sometimes personality of the Construct.

Components: The Core and the Base are components of the Construct, but "Components" describe "everything else." These Materials can be almost anything, and are not neccessarily limited to physical objects. They tweak and modify the Base, and can influence or control the Core. Teddy bears, flowers, another core-like being if you want your Construct to be schizophrenic, whatever items you deem appropriate.

Since so many different things can be used as Components, it will probably be more helpful to define what is not acceptable. Abstract concepts or emotions like "love" and "malevolence", sensations like "pain," or ideas and wishes cannot be used as Components. These are used later, when you will and imagine the Materials changing into the Construct.

<CENTER>Item</CENTER>

One of Heiyue's rituals performed while making a Construct is the creation of a physical item for the Construct before it is born. Besides being a first present, this item helps the ether 'soup' associate with and bind itself to the material world. In a sense, the item serves as an anchor. Although this process does not seem neccessary to construction, neither of the two Constructs she made took shape before the item was completed.

The item can be anything, although you should probably make it useful to the Construct. A weapon-type will probably need a weapon. A decorative-type might need nice clothes or jewelry or somesuch.

<CENTER>Visualization</CENTER>

The Materials will only take shape, and the item will only become close to the Construct's heart, in response to the feelings and wishes of the creator. The Vessel will absorb the thoughts and emotions near it given off by any mortal, though it is always most intimate with its one creator. The more it has to work with, the faster the Vessel can produce the Construct. Thus, the creator will usually spend a great deal of time with the Vessel, either telling it about its life and desires or just existing nearby. However you express yourself, through simple diary entries, earnest confessions, creative endeavors such as art or music, the Vessel will try to collect all of your identity it can and make what it gathers you want.

You should RP frequently in your room. It does not have to be straight paragraph RP, but it should serve to express your dream to the Vessel somehow. As always, the more detailed you are, the more detailed the Construct will be.

This "visualization" does not neccessarily have to take place after the Materials are gathered and fused or the item is finished; it would probably be best to start right away and continue all the way to the end of construction.

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_6 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:59:40 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:59:40 +0000

<CENTER>[FAQ]</CENTER>

What is this mess?
Constructs is basically an experiment of mine. Like I've said before, it's a contract of art and RP between the shopowner and the 'apprentices.' Although they are changeables and you can treat them as such, it's probably better to consider ownership a partnership, a seat reserved in this experiment.

Can I have a preview?
Check the Constructs post (and the Construct Status thread in the guild) to see examples of finished Constructs and Vessels being worked on. 3nodding

So how do I get a Construct?
Wait for a flatsale. I've thought about it and decided that I'm extremely unlikely to give one away even to my favorite lurkers or to hold an auction or raffle or the like. They are too much work for me to be given away, and I also care about the quality of RP going into them.

How quickly do they grow?
It depends on how much you RP with them -- but generally, slow. This is because you should take your time with your RP and explore all your ideas, and because Wenyuan takes forever to finish the art. He tries to do a good job and make them pretty! gonk
But anyway, think of this as a long-term commitment/partnership, not just another pretty pet.

DO YOU DO CUSTOMS????
All Constructs are 'customs', silly. XD

Does my Construct have to be human?
No, but Constructs naturally want to be the same species as their creators.

Can Constructs breed?
Not exactly. Nothing prevents them from wandering off after they were created and having children with someone, but they won't lay Vessels, and you won't get another Construct.
However, when a Vessel is reused, traits of the Constructs that were born from it before can be passed on to the next generation.

Do you do pet trades?
Generally, no. Contact me, though, if you could get me a really nice Zhang Liao cosplay pet. ninja

Do I have to gather Materials in a certain order?
No. Although your Vessel should be digesting the Materials as you make its Item, and it's probably too late to add an influential component after your Construct is already taking shape, you can gather Materials in any order you wish: Core-Base-Components, Base-Components-Core, Component-Base-Component-Core-Compontent; anythnig you like.

Can I only use three Components for my Construct?
You can conceivably use infinite Components, but only three will be listed. A fourth, unlisted Component could have just as much impact on the Construct as the third, though.

Can I adopt Ryou??!/1??1
No. blaugh

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_7 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:01:15 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:01:15 +0000

<CENTER>[The Constructs]</CENTER>

Our family.

1 - Heiyue's Dark Moon

His room</CENTER>

2 - Heiyue's Ryou

His room</CENTER>

3 - 'Mirror' Vessel, in the care of Mintaka

Their room</CENTER>

4 - 'Coffin' Vessel, in the care of Mizuiro Ookami

Their room</CENTER>

Junyi's Jokeph

Their room</CENTER>

6 - 'Lamp' Vessel, in the care of LittleButterfly

</CENTER>

7 - 'Case' Vessel, in the care of Zachariah MoonShadow

</CENTER>

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_8 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:02:03 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:02:03 +0000

<CENTER>[The Vessels]</CENTER>

Profiles of the Vessels for the curious, especially those curious about new ones available in flatsales. 3nodding

"Mirror," "Coffin," and "Armoire" are currently occupied. "Lamp" is unoccupied and will be made available in a flatsale.

1 - Mirror

The "Mirror" Vessel
(Dark Moon, ???)</CENTER>

The first Vessel Heiyue made. Its shape is that of a faceted gem; its back is flat, but the mirrored part itself rises, like a fragmented cylinder, to a point at the center. This creates a disjointed reflection, like that of a mirror, but more orderly. Its size seems to vary, perhaps controlled by Heiyue. It was once on display at over 6 feet in diameter, but now is fairly small.

It used to be a portal to the "Reflection of Dream," but that power seems to have faded away. For Heiyue, it created her complementary Dark Moon, but because some of its magic has changed, it may not function the same way for others. It is currently being worked upon by the apprentice Mintaka.

2 - Coffin

The "Coffin" Vessel
(Ryou, ???)</CENTER>

A human-sized box with a laquer-like color and texture and a large, emerald-like window, "Coffin" does not really resemble a coffin, but was named such because Heiyue wished to hold the spirit of her dead "papa" inside. It is like the casket of a sleeping princess, covered with flourishing plants, roses, daisies, hibiscus, great roots -- all seeming to need no nutrition.

Heiyue used "Coffin" to hold the memory of a dead eidolon and a true human ghost, and decorated it with roses and filled it with the spirit of a dryad. It thus has a contradicting affinity to flora and undeath, but the connection is not extremely strong nor dictating. It is currently being worked upon by the apprentice Mizuiro Ookami.

3 - Armoire

The "Armoire" Vessel
(Jokeph)</CENTER>

Compared to the other Vessels, "Armoire" is fairly mundane in appearance. It is made of a rich brown wood; the doors are decorated with a creature something like a cross between a tiger and a kirin. Its construction is unknown; it is the first Vessel Heiyue made expressly to give to an apprentice.

Junyi was the first to work with "Armoire;" it seems to embrace dualities, because it was worked upon by two consciousnesses. The fact that its first Construct horribly damaged it with its alignment to acid indicates that it will probably pass on traces of this element. Heiyue will begin repairing it soon.

4 - Lamp

The "Lamp" Vessel
(???)</CENTER>

As mundane and unassuming in appearance as "Armoire," this Vessel is modeled after an incense burner. In part because of its small (realistic) size and because of its intricate construction, it seems delicate. Its aura is generally bright, curious, and pure, like that of a spirited maiden.

It is currently being worked upon by the apprentice LittleButterfly.

5 - Case

The "Case" Vessel
(???)</CENTER>

Resembling a jewelry box, this Vessel is very small and beautifully crafted, with a body as dark and radiant as laquered wood and a delicately painted image of lotus blossoms and a crane atop it. It is much like Lamp in its aura, faint and pure, but seems much more defensive and shy.

It is currently being worked upon by the apprentice Zachariah MoonShadow.

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_9 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:03:04 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:03:04 +0000

<CENTER>[RP]</CENTER>

All Construct RP will happen in the guild. This means all the Construct-building, but also RP in the rooms between apprentices, Constructs, and Mistress Heiyue. Visitors are warmly welcome, invited to come! Please stop by! 3nodding

Here it is!

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_10 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:03:50 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:03:50 +0000

<CENTER>[Giftshop]</CENTER>

Wenyuan runs the giftshop. Send trades to him !If you'd like to order something, post so in the thread before sending the trade.

Here are a few small items related to the Constructs and halfway-into-Dream RP; just silly collectables and the like that you can buy if you like the shop or art. 3nodding

All samples are in black-and-white; the real things are in color!

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

Dark Moon and Ryou dollies! They're 20 gold each.

I will PM you dolls once you send the trade.

Fake Constructs! ... What's a Fake Construct, do you ask? Well... it's not a Construct! Ho ho ho!

...Errhem. Fake Constructs are non-changeable fake pets with the Construct tags that are also made by Wenyuan and totally legal -- sort of like plushies. Most Fake Constructs will be chibis of the Constructs and Vessels, and the other characters that lurk around here. You can customize your Fake Construct with any flavor text you like -- fake stats, Heiyue quotes, poems -- anything that fits! ...So long as it's not overly mean or offensive or dumb like that. ^^;

If you don't post what text you'd like, I'll ask you in the thread. If you don't respond or don't send a trade, I won't make the tag. Fake Construct tags are posted in the thread when they are done because they are personalized.

Currently available:
None... sweatdrop

Past Editions:
Dark Moon Fans: Mintaka, Zachariah MoonShadow, Junyi, Mizuiro Ookami, Kokuei Chaos

Heiyue

(?)Community Member

Offline

Report Post
Post: 4692392_11 created on Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:05:01 +0000
Posted: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 05:05:01 +0000

<CENTER>[Links and Affiliates]</CENTER>

If you want to affiliate, please post your request and a link to your shop in the thread! Don't PM us. PMs make us cry.

Affiliates!

(Wenyuan's other shop)